Dallas Can Certainly Thank Its Lucky Stars in 3-0 Victory

The first goal was lucky. But then came two more, which left the Colorado Avalanche seeing Stars.

Joe Nieuwendyk had a goal and two assists, and Ed Belfour posted his sixth career playoff shutout as the Dallas Stars beat Colorado, 3-0, on Wednesday night to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference finals.

Game 4 is Friday night in Denver.

“We got the home-ice advantage back,” said Dallas forward Jamie Langenbrunner, who scored the Stars’ second goal. “That was important to us.”

Nieuwendyk scored his eighth goal of the playoffs at 2:22 of the second period on a shot that deflected off a defenseman’s skate.

Nieuwendyk, who chased the puck behind the net, flicked a shot from behind and just left of the goal. But the puck hit the right skate of Colorado defenseman Aaron Miller, who was stationed in front of the net, and ricocheted between Patrick Roy’s legs.

It was Nieuwendyk’s fifth game-deciding goal of the playoffs.

On a 2-on-1 break after a Colorado turnover at mid-ice in the third period, Langenbrunner took a pass from Nieuwendyk and beat Roy from the slot at 10:44.

Dave Reid made it 3-0, scoring from the left circle at 16:05 on assists by Craig Ludwig and Nieuwendyk.

Belfour had 34 saves and Roy 23.

“If you’re going to win in the playoffs, your goaltender has to be your best player,” Dallas Coach Ken Hitchcock said. “Eddie was our best player tonight. He was excellent.”

Colorado hit the goal post three times.

“I had some good luck,” Belfour said. “The posts were on my side.”

The loss dropped the Avalanche to 2-5 at home in the playoffs. The Stars, meanwhile, are 4-2 in road playoff games.

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One day after prospective team owner Mario Lemieux offered to buy out the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Civic Arena lease, the team asked U.S. Bankruptcy Court to void the arena agreement. The lease costs the Penguins an NHL-high $6 million a year to play in the league’s oldest arena. The cumbersome contract, which resulted from past renegotiations between SMG--the arena’s management group--and former Penguin owner Howard Baldwin, is viewed as one of the major impediments to keeping the team in Pittsburgh. If approved, the motion filed by the Penguins’ attorneys in bankruptcy court would allow any potential buyer--most likely Lemieux--to negotiate a new lease to play in the 38-year-old arena.